Chapter 9 - Aunt Loretta
Loretta Carter-Reeves lived outside Richmond, Virginia, not North Carolina.
Denise had even lied about the state.
Nia drove there Saturday with Marcus.
She almost went alone.
Then remembered his warning about underestimating people.
Loretta opened the door wearing gardening gloves.
She stared at Nia.
Then at Marcus.
“Oh,” she whispered.
Nia’s throat tightened.
“Hi, Aunt Loretta.”
Loretta pulled her into a hug.
It lasted so long Nia began crying before understanding why.
“You look like Robert,” Loretta said.
“Everybody says that.”
“They’re right.”
Inside, the house smelled like cinnamon and furniture polish.
Loretta poured iced tea.
Then Nia placed Robert’s flash drive on the table.
Loretta closed her eyes.
“Where did you get that?”
“Andre.”
Loretta laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
“You know it?”
“I gave it to him.”
Nia froze.
“When?”
“The week I left.”
“Why?”
“Because he was terrified.”
“Of what?”
“His mother.”
Nia stared.
Loretta folded her hands.
“You need to understand Andre was different then.”
“Everyone keeps explaining Andre to me.”
“I’m not excusing him.”
“Good.”
Loretta nodded.
“Robert discovered Denise was moving company money.”
“I know.”
“What you don’t know is why.”
Nia leaned forward.
Loretta continued.
“Denise wasn’t stealing at first.”
“What?”
“She was covering Andre’s losses.”
“What losses?”
“A private investment scheme.”
Marcus frowned.
“What kind?”
“Real-estate flipping.”
Loretta laughed without humor.
“Except Andre wasn’t buying properties. He was giving company money to a man named Terrence Vale who claimed he could buy foreclosed houses before auction.”
Nia’s stomach sank.
“A scam.”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Nearly three hundred thousand.”
Nia covered her mouth.
“Dad found out.”
“He found missing vendor payments. He confronted Denise.”
“And she covered Andre.”
“She moved money from reserves so Robert wouldn’t report him.”
Marcus spoke.
“That created the fake invoices.”
Loretta nodded.
“Some.”
“Why use my contractor records?”
“Because your company had legitimate jobs with Carter Community. False invoices looked believable.”
Marcus’s face hardened.
Nia asked:
“What happened after Dad died?”
“Denise doubled down.”
“Why?”
“Because admitting the truth would mean admitting Robert died while they were fighting about Andre.”
Nia swallowed.
“Did the argument cause his heart attack?”
“No one can know that.”
Loretta leaned closer.
“But guilt can turn into something ugly when someone refuses to face it.”
Nia thought of Denise controlling every family decision.
Maybe control was not strength.
Maybe it was panic disguised as authority.
“What did you find?”
“Robert’s audit notes.”
“In Mom’s car?”
“Yes.”
“Why were they there?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did they say?”
Loretta stood.
She left the room.
When she returned, she carried an envelope.
Old.
Creased.
Nia stared.
“I thought Mom burned everything.”
“She burned what she had.”
Loretta placed the envelope on the table.
“I kept copies.”
Inside were eleven pages of Robert’s handwritten notes.
False invoices.
Unauthorized distributions.
And one line circled twice:
DENISE SAYS A. DOESN’T KNOW. NOT TRUE.
Andre had known far more than anyone admitted.
Another note:
MEETING WITH BANK THURSDAY. REMOVE DENISE AS SIGNER.
Robert died Wednesday night.
Nia’s skin went cold.
Marcus read over her shoulder.
Loretta saw their expressions.
“No.”
“You don’t know what I’m thinking.”
“Yes, I do.”
Loretta shook her head.
“Robert had severe coronary disease. The autopsy was clear.”
“There was an autopsy?”
“Limited postmortem examination because of his age and sudden death.”
“Why didn’t I know?”
“You were twenty-one.”
Nia laughed bitterly.
“That seems to be everyone’s excuse.”
Loretta looked ashamed.
“There’s something else.”
Of course there was.
“What?”
“After Robert died, Andre came to me.”
“Why?”
“He said he needed the audit notes.”
“Did you give them?”
“No.”
“What happened?”
“He threatened me.”
Marcus leaned forward.
“How?”
“He said if I accused Denise publicly, he would tell police I had stolen from Lillian.”
“But you hadn’t.”
“No.”
“Why would they believe him?”
Loretta looked at Nia.
“Because Andre had already moved forty thousand dollars into an account bearing my name.”
Nia stared.
“He framed you.”
“Yes.”
“And Grandma?”
“She knew.”
“So the forty-eight thousand?”
“Lillian gave me enough to leave and start over.”
Nia’s eyes filled.
“Why didn’t she fight?”
“She was seventy-nine and grieving her son.”
Loretta’s voice broke.
“She said she had already lost Robert. She couldn’t survive watching the rest of us destroy each other.”
Nia looked at the papers.
“But later she changed the trust.”
“Yes.”
“Why not expose them?”
“Because she believed giving control to you would correct the damage quietly.”
Nia shook her head.
“Quietly.”
Loretta nodded sadly.
“She underestimated your mother.”
On the drive home, Nia barely spoke.
Near Baltimore, Marcus said:
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Fair.”
After another mile, Nia whispered:
“My family turned silence into a religion.”
Marcus looked at the road.
“And you?”
Nia watched city lights appear ahead.
“I’m done worshipping.”
Her phone rang.
Denise.
Nia answered.
Her mother did not say hello.
“Where did you go today?”
Nia’s blood chilled.
“Why?”
“Answer me.”
“No.”
Denise’s breathing was audible.
Then:
“You went to Loretta.”
Nia looked at Marcus.
“How do you know?”
Denise ignored the question.
“If that woman gives you anything, she is lying.”
Nia said quietly:
“I have Dad’s audit notes.”
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Then Denise said:
“You have no idea what you just started.”
Nia stared out the window.
“No, Mom.”
Her voice was calm.
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“You started it eleven years ago.”
And she hung up.
